Walk into a wine cellar and you might find rows of barrels, stainless steel tanks, concrete eggs and large terracotta pots. Each gives the winemaker a different way to ferment and mature the wine.
The vessel affects temperature, contact with oxygen and how the wine develops over time. Wood can also contribute flavour, particularly when it is new. Concrete and clay offer alternatives for producers who want to work with texture and structure without adding that oak seasoning.
Across our range, winemakers use these vessels in different ways: concrete from fermentation to bottling, terracotta for long skin contact, or a combination of clay, concrete and wood.
WHY CONCRETE?
Concrete has been used in wine cellars for generations. Its thick walls help buffer changes in temperature, while the material contributes no oak flavour.
Small amounts of oxygen can reach the wine through some concrete vessels, although this depends on their construction and internal coating. An uncoated tank behaves differently from one lined with an impermeable material.
Concrete also comes in many shapes, from traditional rectangular tanks to eggs. Alongside the material itself, the vessel’s size and shape influence conditions during fermentation and maturation.
WHAT DOES CLAY DO?
Clay vessels have a history stretching back thousands of years. Names such as amphora, tinaja, dolium and qvevri refer to different traditions and forms, each with its own construction and use.
Terracotta is fired clay. The clay, firing temperature, wall thickness and any internal coating affect its porosity and how much oxygen can pass through it.
Skin contact is a separate choice. A white wine can be pressed before fermentation in clay, or fermented with its skins to develop colour, texture and tannin. An amphora does not automatically make a wine orange.
Mick and Jeanine Craven have increasingly turned to concrete across their Stellenbosch range. Their Cinsaut, from Firgrove, spends six months in concrete before bottling.
The variety’s floral perfume and cherry fruit remain central, with no oak flavour competing for attention. The 2025 is juicy and rounded, with bright acidity, powdery tannins and an alcohol of 12.01%.
It is a good place to start exploring concrete-matured reds: fragrant, fresh and easy to get to know.
Van Loggerenberg ‘Kameraderie’ Chenin Blanc 2025
Paardeberg | Concrete and old oak
Kameraderie brings together two old Chenin Blanc vineyards in the Paardeberg. For the 2025, 85% comes from a Lammershoek vineyard planted in 1966, fermented and matured in concrete. The remaining 15%, from a vineyard planted in 1967, is raised in old oak.
The two parcels are handled separately before blending, with concrete accounting for most of the finished wine.
Quince, citrus and peach sit alongside floral, herbal and lees-derived notes. There is concentrated fruit, lively acidity and a persistent, savoury finish.
Johan ‘Stompie’ Meyer uses concrete after barrel maturation for this blend of Grenache Noir, Pinot Noir and Mourvèdre.
The components mature separately in neutral French oak before being blended and spending a further period together in concrete. Wood and concrete therefore play successive roles in the wine’s development.
Christian Eedes describes red berries, floral notes, savoury meatiness and spice, with bright acidity, fine tannins and a particularly dry finish. The 2024 is also the final vintage to include Pinot Noir in the blend.
Martinet Bru comes from slate-soil vineyards around Falset and Torroja in Priorat. The 2023 is led by Garnatxa, with Carinyena, Syrah and a small proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Different varieties are co-fermented in concrete, with half the wine undergoing carbonic maceration. Fermentation finishes in concrete and wooden vats, followed by ten months in concrete and a further four to five months in large wooden vats and old barrels.
Concrete is involved at several stages, alongside wood. The producer describes concentration balanced by a fresh, tense finish.
Trentino | Concrete fermentation and acacia ageing
Foradori is known for its work with terracotta, but Fontanasanta Manzoni Bianco takes a different route.
The grapes ferment with their skins in concrete tanks, before the wine matures for seven months in acacia casks. Concrete provides the fermentation vessel, followed by wood for maturation.
Manzoni Bianco is a crossing of Riesling and Pinot Bianco, grown here on the clay-limestone hills above Trento. Foradori recommends giving the wine time, suggesting that it begins to show its full character at least three years after harvest.
Sicily | Skin fermentation and maturation in terracotta
Pithos Bianco is made from Grecanico grown near Vittoria in south-eastern Sicily.
The grapes ferment with indigenous yeasts in terracotta amphorae, with the juice remaining in contact with the skins. The wine also matures in amphora before bottling.
This is an orange wine, with skin contact contributing texture and tannic grip. The terracotta provides a vessel for fermentation and maturation without adding oak flavour. It brings together two distinct choices in the cellar: what the wine is made in, and how it is handled.
Voor Paardeberg | Oak, stainless steel and terracotta
Chris Williams sources this Grenache Blanc from two adjoining vineyards in the Voor Paardeberg. They are harvested a week apart and vinified separately before blending.
Fermentation takes place across oak, stainless steel and terracotta, giving Chris several components to work with when assembling the wine.
The Foundry shows how clay can form part of a broader cellar approach. Different vessels are used within the same wine, with their contributions brought together in the finished blend.
Paarl | Clay amphora, concrete eggs and seasoned oak
Fairhead brings together all four white varieties planted on Joostenberg Estate: Chenin Blanc, Roussanne, Viognier and Alvarinho.
The grapes are whole-bunch pressed before spontaneous fermentation and maturation in three types of vessel: 51% clay amphora, 26% seasoned oak barrels and 23% concrete eggs. The wine spends ten months on its lees, the yeast cells that settle after fermentation.
Here, clay and concrete account for almost three-quarters of the blend. The different varieties, vessels and time on lees all contribute to the finished wine.
WHAT SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR IN THE GLASS?
Start with texture. Is the wine broad or firm, smooth or lightly grippy? How do the fruit, acidity and tannins fit together? What changes as the wine opens in the glass?
The vessel contributes to those answers alongside the grape variety, vineyard, picking date, skin contact, lees and time. There is no single flavour that identifies a wine as concrete-aged or amphora-made.
Concrete, clay and what they bring to wine
Walk into a wine cellar and you might find rows of barrels, stainless steel tanks, concrete eggs and large terracotta pots. Each gives the winemaker a different way to ferment and mature the wine.
The vessel affects temperature, contact with oxygen and how the wine develops over time. Wood can also contribute flavour, particularly when it is new. Concrete and clay offer alternatives for producers who want to work with texture and structure without adding that oak seasoning.
Across our range, winemakers use these vessels in different ways: concrete from fermentation to bottling, terracotta for long skin contact, or a combination of clay, concrete and wood.
WHY CONCRETE?
Concrete has been used in wine cellars for generations. Its thick walls help buffer changes in temperature, while the material contributes no oak flavour.
Small amounts of oxygen can reach the wine through some concrete vessels, although this depends on their construction and internal coating. An uncoated tank behaves differently from one lined with an impermeable material.
Concrete also comes in many shapes, from traditional rectangular tanks to eggs. Alongside the material itself, the vessel’s size and shape influence conditions during fermentation and maturation.
WHAT DOES CLAY DO?
Clay vessels have a history stretching back thousands of years. Names such as amphora, tinaja, dolium and qvevri refer to different traditions and forms, each with its own construction and use.
Terracotta is fired clay. The clay, firing temperature, wall thickness and any internal coating affect its porosity and how much oxygen can pass through it.
Skin contact is a separate choice. A white wine can be pressed before fermentation in clay, or fermented with its skins to develop colour, texture and tannin. An amphora does not automatically make a wine orange.
THE WINES:
Craven Cinsaut 2025
R265.00Craven Cinsaut 2025
Stellenbosch | Six months in concrete
Mick and Jeanine Craven have increasingly turned to concrete across their Stellenbosch range. Their Cinsaut, from Firgrove, spends six months in concrete before bottling.
The variety’s floral perfume and cherry fruit remain central, with no oak flavour competing for attention. The 2025 is juicy and rounded, with bright acidity, powdery tannins and an alcohol of 12.01%.
It is a good place to start exploring concrete-matured reds: fragrant, fresh and easy to get to know.
Van Loggerenberg ‘Kameraderie’ Chenin Blanc 2025
R595.00Van Loggerenberg ‘Kameraderie’ Chenin Blanc 2025
Paardeberg | Concrete and old oak
Kameraderie brings together two old Chenin Blanc vineyards in the Paardeberg. For the 2025, 85% comes from a Lammershoek vineyard planted in 1966, fermented and matured in concrete. The remaining 15%, from a vineyard planted in 1967, is raised in old oak.
The two parcels are handled separately before blending, with concrete accounting for most of the finished wine.
Quince, citrus and peach sit alongside floral, herbal and lees-derived notes. There is concentrated fruit, lively acidity and a persistent, savoury finish.
Mother Rock ‘The Building Blocks’ Red 2024
R350.00Mother Rock ‘The Building Blocks’ Red 2024
Piket-Bo-Berg | Old oak followed by concrete
Johan ‘Stompie’ Meyer uses concrete after barrel maturation for this blend of Grenache Noir, Pinot Noir and Mourvèdre.
The components mature separately in neutral French oak before being blended and spending a further period together in concrete. Wood and concrete therefore play successive roles in the wine’s development.
Christian Eedes describes red berries, floral notes, savoury meatiness and spice, with bright acidity, fine tannins and a particularly dry finish. The 2024 is also the final vintage to include Pinot Noir in the blend.
Mas Martinet ‘Martinet Bru’ Syrah / Carinyena / Garnatxa 2023
R725.00Mas Martinet ‘Martinet Bru’ 2023
Priorat | Concrete and older wood
Martinet Bru comes from slate-soil vineyards around Falset and Torroja in Priorat. The 2023 is led by Garnatxa, with Carinyena, Syrah and a small proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Different varieties are co-fermented in concrete, with half the wine undergoing carbonic maceration. Fermentation finishes in concrete and wooden vats, followed by ten months in concrete and a further four to five months in large wooden vats and old barrels.
Concrete is involved at several stages, alongside wood. The producer describes concentration balanced by a fresh, tense finish.
Foradori ‘Fontanasanta’ Manzoni Bianco 2024
R610.00Foradori ‘Fontanasanta’ Manzoni Bianco 2024
Trentino | Concrete fermentation and acacia ageing
Foradori is known for its work with terracotta, but Fontanasanta Manzoni Bianco takes a different route.
The grapes ferment with their skins in concrete tanks, before the wine matures for seven months in acacia casks. Concrete provides the fermentation vessel, followed by wood for maturation.
Manzoni Bianco is a crossing of Riesling and Pinot Bianco, grown here on the clay-limestone hills above Trento. Foradori recommends giving the wine time, suggesting that it begins to show its full character at least three years after harvest.
COS ‘Pithos Bianco’ Grecanico 2023
R880.00COS ‘Pithos Bianco’ Grecanico 2023
Sicily | Skin fermentation and maturation in terracotta
Pithos Bianco is made from Grecanico grown near Vittoria in south-eastern Sicily.
The grapes ferment with indigenous yeasts in terracotta amphorae, with the juice remaining in contact with the skins. The wine also matures in amphora before bottling.
This is an orange wine, with skin contact contributing texture and tannic grip. The terracotta provides a vessel for fermentation and maturation without adding oak flavour. It brings together two distinct choices in the cellar: what the wine is made in, and how it is handled.
The Foundry Grenache Blanc 2023
R265.00The Foundry Grenache Blanc 2023
Voor Paardeberg | Oak, stainless steel and terracotta
Chris Williams sources this Grenache Blanc from two adjoining vineyards in the Voor Paardeberg. They are harvested a week apart and vinified separately before blending.
Fermentation takes place across oak, stainless steel and terracotta, giving Chris several components to work with when assembling the wine.
The Foundry shows how clay can form part of a broader cellar approach. Different vessels are used within the same wine, with their contributions brought together in the finished blend.
Joostenberg Estate ‘Fairhead’ 2024
R250.00Joostenberg Estate ‘Fairhead’ 2024
Paarl | Clay amphora, concrete eggs and seasoned oak
Fairhead brings together all four white varieties planted on Joostenberg Estate: Chenin Blanc, Roussanne, Viognier and Alvarinho.
The grapes are whole-bunch pressed before spontaneous fermentation and maturation in three types of vessel: 51% clay amphora, 26% seasoned oak barrels and 23% concrete eggs. The wine spends ten months on its lees, the yeast cells that settle after fermentation.
Here, clay and concrete account for almost three-quarters of the blend. The different varieties, vessels and time on lees all contribute to the finished wine.
WHAT SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR IN THE GLASS?
Start with texture. Is the wine broad or firm, smooth or lightly grippy? How do the fruit, acidity and tannins fit together? What changes as the wine opens in the glass?
The vessel contributes to those answers alongside the grape variety, vineyard, picking date, skin contact, lees and time. There is no single flavour that identifies a wine as concrete-aged or amphora-made.